Presentation of an avatar in association with a merchant system

ABSTRACT

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, an avatar engine having a controller to retrieve a user profile, cause a presentation device to present a user an avatar having characteristics that correlate to the user profile, detect one or more responses of the user, identify from the one or more responses a need to communicate with a merchant system, establish a communication session with the merchant system, receive a notification from the merchant system of a merchant avatar engine, establish communication with the merchant avatar engine, adapt the characteristics of the avatar at least in part according to instructions supplied by the merchant avatar engine, and cause the presentation device to present the user the adapted avatar. Other embodiments are disclosed.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to avatar presentationtechniques and more specifically to a presentation of an avatar in amedia communication system.

BACKGROUND

Developments in speech synthesis and computer animation enable thereal-time synthesis of faces that look and sound like actual people.With recent advances in speech recognition, natural languageinterpretation and speech synthesis, conversational interfaces arefinding wider acceptance. Collectively, these technologies can be usedto produce human-like or animated interactive avatars.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-4 depict illustrative embodiments of communication systems thatprovide media services;

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a portal interacting withat least one among the communication systems of FIGS. 1-4;

FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication deviceutilized in the communication systems of FIGS. 1-4;

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method operating inportions of the communication systems of FIGS. 1-4;

FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a system operatingaccording to the method of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions, when executed, maycause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One embodiment of the present disclosure can entail an Internet ProtocolTelevision (IPTV) system having a controller to retrieve a user profileassociated with a user of the IPTV system, cause a set-top box (STB)operating in the IPTV system to present an avatar having characteristicsthat correlate to the user profile, receive from the STB one or moreresponses of the user, wherein the one or more responses are collectedby the STB from a communication exchange between the avatar and theuser, identify from the one or more responses a need to communicate witha merchant system, establish a communication session with the merchantsystem, receive a notification from the merchant system indicatingavailability of a merchant avatar engine operatively coupled to themerchant system, establish communication with the merchant avatarengine, adapt the characteristics of the avatar at least in partaccording to instructions supplied by the merchant avatar engine, andcause the STB to present the adapted avatar.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure can entail an avatar enginehaving a controller to retrieve a user profile, cause a presentationdevice to present a user an avatar having characteristics that correlateto the user profile, detect one or more responses of the user, identifyfrom the one or more responses a need to communicate with a merchantsystem, establish a communication session with the merchant system,receive a notification from the merchant system of a merchant avatarengine, establish communication with the merchant avatar engine, adaptthe characteristics of the avatar at least in part according toinstructions supplied by the merchant avatar engine, and cause thepresentation device to present the user the adapted avatar.

Yet another embodiment of the present disclosure can entail presenting auser an avatar having characteristics that correlate to a user profilesupplied by an interactive television (iTV) system, establishingcommunication with an avatar engine of a merchant, adapting thecharacteristics of the avatar at least in part according to instructionssupplied by the merchant's avatar engine, and presenting the user theadapted avatar.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure can entail a merchantavatar engine having a controller to establish communications with anavatar engine that is presenting an avatar having characteristics thatcorrelate to a user profile, and transmit instructions to the avatarengine to adapt the characteristics of the avatar at least in partaccording to the instructions supplied by the merchant avatar engine.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a first communicationsystem 100 for delivering media content. The communication system 100can represent an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) broadcast mediasystem. In a typical IPTV infrastructure, there is a super head-endoffice (SHO) with at least one super headend office server (SHS) whichreceives national media programs from satellite and/or media serversfrom service providers of multimedia broadcast channels. In the presentcontext, media programs can represent audio content, moving imagecontent such as videos, still image content, and/or combinationsthereof. The SHS server forwards IP packets associated with the mediacontent to video head-end servers (VHS) via a network of aggregationpoints such as video head-end offices (VHO) according to a commonmulticast communication method.

The VHS then distributes multimedia broadcast programs via an accessnetwork to commercial and/or residential buildings 102 housing a gateway104 (such as a residential gateway or RG). The access network canrepresent a bank of digital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAMs)located in a central office or a service area interface that providebroadband services over optical links or copper twisted pairs tobuildings 102. The gateway 104 distributes broadcast signals to mediaprocessors 106 such as Set-Top Boxes (STBs) which in turn presentbroadcast selections to media devices 108 such as computers ortelevision sets managed in some instances by a media controller 107(such as an infrared or RF remote control). Unicast traffic can also beexchanged between the media processors 106 and subsystems of the IPTVmedia system for services such as video-on-demand (VoD). It will beappreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the media devices108 and/or portable communication devices 116 shown in FIG. 1 can be anintegral part of the media processor 106 and can be communicativelycoupled to the gateway 104. In this particular embodiment, an integraldevice such as described can receive, respond, process and presentmulticast or unicast media content.

The IPTV media system can be coupled to one or more computing devices130 a portion of which can operate as a web server for providing portalservices over an Internet Service Provider (ISP) network 132 to fixedline media devices 108 or portable communication devices 116 by way of awireless access point 117 providing Wireless Fidelity or WiFi services,or cellular communication services (such as GSM, CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX,etc.).

Another distinct portion of the one or more computing devices 130 can beused as an avatar engine (herein referred to as avatar engine 130) forgenerating and managing interactive avatars which users of the firstcommunication system 100 can be presented for general assistance andpresentation of interactive television (iTV) services as well as othercommon forms of media services. The avatar engine 130 can use commonimaging technologies for creating avatars with human-like or animatedqualities. The avatar engine 130 can also use common speech recognitionand speech synthesis technologies to produce an interactive avatar.

Responsive to the needs of a user interacting with an avatar presentedby the avatar engine 130 by way of for example an STB or some othercommunication device (such as a computer, a cellular phone, etc.), theavatar engine can identify a need to communicate with one or moremerchant systems 133 by way of the ISP network 132 (or other commoncommunication means). Merchant systems 133 can provide users access togoods or services which the user may desire. To promote goods orservices of a merchant, a merchant system 133 can provide access to amerchant avatar engine 135 which can be an integral part of the merchantsystem or operably coupled thereto by common means. The merchant avatarengine 135 can utilize common computing and software technology (similarto the avatar engine 130) to supply avatar processing information to theavatar engine 130 which can be used to adapt characteristics of theavatar generated by the avatar engine. The adaptation process will bedescribed below.

A satellite broadcast television system can be used in place of the IPTVmedia system. In this embodiment, signals transmitted by a satellite 115can be intercepted by a satellite dish receiver 131 coupled to building102 which conveys media signals to the media processors 106. The mediareceivers 106 can be equipped with a broadband port to the ISP network132. Although not shown, the communication system 100 can also becombined or replaced with analog or digital broadcast distributionssystems such as cable TV systems.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a second communicationsystem 200 for delivering media content. Communication system 200 can beoverlaid or operably coupled with communication system 100 as anotherrepresentative embodiment of said communication system. The system 200includes a distribution switch/router system 228 at a central office218. The distribution switch/router system 228 receives video data via amulticast television stream 230 from a second distribution switch/router234 at an intermediate office 220. The multicast television stream 230includes Internet Protocol (IP) data packets addressed to a multicast IPaddress associated with a television channel. The distributionswitch/router system 228 can cache data associated with each televisionchannel received from the intermediate office 220.

The distribution switch/router system 228 also receives unicast datatraffic from the intermediate office 220 via a unicast traffic stream232. The unicast traffic stream 232 includes data packets related todevices located at a particular residence, such as the residence 202.For example, the unicast traffic stream 232 can include data trafficrelated to a digital subscriber line, a telephone line, another dataconnection, or any combination thereof. To illustrate, the unicasttraffic stream 232 can communicate data packets to and from a telephone212 associated with a subscriber at the residence 202. The telephone 212can be a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone. To furtherillustrate, the unicast traffic stream 232 can communicate data packetsto and from a personal computer 210 at the residence 202 via one or moredata routers 208. In an additional illustration, the unicast trafficstream 232 can communicate data packets to and from a set-top boxdevice, such as the set-top box devices 204, 206. The unicast trafficstream 232 can communicate data packets to and from the devices locatedat the residence 202 via one or more residential gateways 214 associatedwith the residence 202.

The distribution switch/router system 228 can send data to one or moreaccess switch/router systems 226. The access switch/router system 226can include or be included within a service area interface 216. In aparticular embodiment, the access switch/router system 226 can include aDSLAM. The access switch/router system 226 can receive data from thedistribution switch/router system 228 via a broadcast television (BTV)stream 222 and a plurality of unicast subscriber traffic streams 224.The BTV stream 222 can be used to communicate video data packetsassociated with a multicast stream.

For example, the BTV stream 222 can include a multicast virtual localarea network (VLAN) connection between the distribution switch/routersystem 228 and the access switch/router system 226. Each of theplurality of subscriber traffic streams 224 can be used to communicatesubscriber specific data packets. For example, the first subscribertraffic stream can communicate data related to a first subscriber, andthe nth subscriber traffic stream can communicate data related to an nthsubscriber. Each subscriber to the system 200 can be associated with arespective subscriber traffic stream 224. The subscriber traffic stream224 can include a subscriber VLAN connection between the distributionswitch/router system 228 and the access switch/router system 226 that isassociated with a particular set-top box device 204, 206, a particularresidence 202, a particular residential gateway 214, another deviceassociated with a subscriber, or any combination thereof.

In an illustrative embodiment, a set-top box device, such as the set-topbox device 204, receives a channel change command from an input device,such as a remoter control device. The channel change command canindicate selection of an IPTV channel. After receiving the channelchange command, the set-top box device 204 generates channel selectiondata that indicates the selection of the IPTV channel. The set-top boxdevice 204 can send the channel selection data to the accessswitch/router system 226 via the residential gateway 214. The channelselection data can include an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP)Join request. In an illustrative embodiment, the access switch/routersystem 226 can identify whether it is joined to a multicast groupassociated with the requested channel based on information in the IGMPJoin request.

If the access switch/router system 226 is not joined to the multicastgroup associated with the requested channel, the access switch/routersystem 226 can generate a multicast stream request. The multicast streamrequest can be generated by modifying the received channel selectiondata. In an illustrative embodiment, the access switch/router system 226can modify an IGMP Join request to produce a proxy IGMP Join request.The access switch/router system 226 can send the multicast streamrequest to the distribution switch/router system 228 via the BTV stream222. In response to receiving the multicast stream request, thedistribution switch/router system 228 can send a stream associated withthe requested channel to the access switch/router system 226 via the BTVstream 222.

The avatar engine 130 of FIG. 1 can be operably coupled to the secondcommunication system 200 for purposes similar to those described above.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a third communicationsystem 300 for delivering media content. Communication system 300 can beoverlaid or operably coupled with communication systems 100-200 asanother representative embodiment of said communication systems. Asshown, the system 300 can include a client facing tier 302, anapplication tier 304, an acquisition tier 306, and an operations andmanagement tier 308. Each tier 302, 304, 306, 308 is coupled to aprivate network 310, such as a network of common packet-switched routersand/or switches; to a public network 312, such as the Internet; or toboth the private network 310 and the public network 312. For example,the client-facing tier 302 can be coupled to the private network 310.Further, the application tier 304 can be coupled to the private network310 and to the public network 312. The acquisition tier 306 can also becoupled to the private network 310 and to the public network 312.Additionally, the operations and management tier 308 can be coupled tothe public network 312.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the various tiers 302, 304, 306, 308communicate with each other via the private network 310 and the publicnetwork 312. For instance, the client-facing tier 302 can communicatewith the application tier 304 and the acquisition tier 306 via theprivate network 310. The application tier 304 can communicate with theacquisition tier 306 via the private network 310. Further, theapplication tier 304 can communicate with the acquisition tier 306 andthe operations and management tier 308 via the public network 312.Moreover, the acquisition tier 306 can communicate with the operationsand management tier 308 via the public network 312. In a particularembodiment, elements of the application tier 304, including, but notlimited to, a client gateway 350, can communicate directly with theclient-facing tier 302.

The client-facing tier 302 can communicate with user equipment via anaccess network 366, such as an IPTV access network. In an illustrativeembodiment, customer premises equipment (CPE) 314, 322 can be coupled toa local switch, router, or other device of the access network 366. Theclient-facing tier 302 can communicate with a first representativeset-top box device 316 via the first CPE 314 and with a secondrepresentative set-top box device 324 via the second CPE 322. In aparticular embodiment, the first representative set-top box device 316and the first CPE 314 can be located at a first customer premise, andthe second representative set-top box device 324 and the second CPE 322can be located at a second customer premise.

In another particular embodiment, the first representative set-top boxdevice 316 and the second representative set-top box device 324 can belocated at a single customer premise, both coupled to one of the CPE314, 322. The CPE 314, 322 can include routers, local area networkdevices, modems, such as digital subscriber line (DSL) modems, any othersuitable devices for facilitating communication between a set-top boxdevice and the access network 366, or any combination thereof.

In an illustrative embodiment, the client-facing tier 302 can be coupledto the CPE 314, 322 via fiber optic cables. In another illustrativeembodiment, the CPE 314, 322 can include DSL modems that are coupled toone or more network nodes via twisted pairs, and the client-facing tier302 can be coupled to the network nodes via fiber-optic cables. Eachset-top box device 316, 324 can process data received via the accessnetwork 366, via a common IPTV software platform.

The first set-top box device 316 can be coupled to a first externaldisplay device, such as a first television monitor 318, and the secondset-top box device 324 can be coupled to a second external displaydevice, such as a second television monitor 326. Moreover, the firstset-top box device 316 can communicate with a first remote control 320,and the second set-top box device 324 can communicate with a secondremote control 328. The set-top box devices 316, 324 can include IPTVset-top box devices; video gaming devices or consoles that are adaptedto receive IPTV content; personal computers or other computing devicesthat are adapted to emulate set-top box device functionalities; anyother device adapted to receive IPTV content and transmit data to anIPTV system via an access network; or any combination thereof.

In an illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, each set-top box device316, 324 can receive data, video, or any combination thereof, from theclient-facing tier 302 via the access network 366 and render or displaythe data, video, or any combination thereof, at the display device 318,326 to which it is coupled. In an illustrative embodiment, the set-topbox devices 316, 324 can include tuners that receive and decodetelevision programming signals or packet streams for transmission to thedisplay devices 318, 326. Further, the set-top box devices 316, 324 caneach include a STB processor 370 and a STB memory device 372 that isaccessible to the STB processor 370. In one embodiment, a computerprogram, such as the STB computer program 374, can be embedded withinthe STB memory device 372.

In an illustrative embodiment, the client-facing tier 302 can include aclient-facing tier (CFT) switch 330 that manages communication betweenthe client-facing tier 302 and the access network 366 and between theclient-facing tier 302 and the private network 310. As illustrated, theCFT switch 330 is coupled to one or more distribution servers, such asDistribution-servers (D-servers) 332, that store, format, encode,replicate, or otherwise manipulate or prepare video content forcommunication from the client-facing tier 302 to the set-top box devices316, 324. The CFT switch 330 can also be coupled to a terminal server334 that provides terminal devices with a point of connection to theIPTV system 300 via the client-facing tier 302.

In a particular embodiment, the CFT switch 330 can be coupled to a VoDserver 336 that stores or provides VoD content imported by the IPTVsystem 300. Further, the CFT switch 330 is coupled to one or more videoservers 380 that receive video content and transmit the content to theset-top boxes 316, 324 via the access network 366. The client-facingtier 302 may include a CPE management server 382 that managescommunications to and from the CPE 314 and the CPE 322. For example, theCPE management server 382 may collect performance data associated withthe set-top box devices 316, 324 from the CPE 314 or the CPE 322 andforward the collected performance data to a server associated with theoperations and management tier 308.

In an illustrative embodiment, the client-facing tier 302 cancommunicate with a large number of set-top boxes, such as therepresentative set-top boxes 316, 324, over a wide geographic area, suchas a metropolitan area, a viewing area, a statewide area, a regionalarea, a nationwide area or any other suitable geographic area, marketarea, or subscriber or customer group that can be supported bynetworking the client-facing tier 302 to numerous set-top box devices.In a particular embodiment, the CFT switch 330, or any portion thereof,can include a multicast router or switch that communicates with multipleset-top box devices via a multicast-enabled network.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the application tier 304 can communicate withboth the private network 310 and the public network 312. The applicationtier 304 can include a first application tier (APP) switch 338 and asecond APP switch 340. In a particular embodiment, the first APP switch338 can be coupled to the second APP switch 340. The first APP switch338 can be coupled to an application server 342 and to an OSS/BSSgateway 344. In a particular embodiment, the application server 342 canprovide applications to the set-top box devices 316, 324 via the accessnetwork 366, which enable the set-top box devices 316, 324 to providefunctions, such as interactive program guides, video gaming, display,messaging, processing of VoD material and other IPTV content, etc. In anillustrative embodiment, the application server 342 can provide locationinformation to the set-top box devices 316, 324. In a particularembodiment, the OSS/BSS gateway 344 includes operation systems andsupport (OSS) data, as well as billing systems and support (BSS) data.In one embodiment, the OSS/BSS gateway 344 can provide or restrictaccess to an OSS/BSS server 364 that stores operations and billingsystems data.

The second APP switch 340 can be coupled to a domain controller 346 thatprovides Internet access, for example, to users at their computers 368via the public network 312. For example, the domain controller 346 canprovide remote Internet access to IPTV account information, e-mail,personalized Internet services, or other online services via the publicnetwork 312. In addition, the second APP switch 340 can be coupled to asubscriber and system store 348 that includes account information, suchas account information that is associated with users who access the IPTVsystem 300 via the private network 310 or the public network 312. In anillustrative embodiment, the subscriber and system store 348 can storesubscriber or customer data and create subscriber or customer profilesthat are associated with IP addresses, stock-keeping unit (SKU) numbers,other identifiers, or any combination thereof, of corresponding set-topbox devices 316, 324. In another illustrative embodiment, the subscriberand system store can store data associated with capabilities of set-topbox devices associated with particular customers.

In a particular embodiment, the application tier 304 can include aclient gateway 350 that communicates data directly to the client-facingtier 302. In this embodiment, the client gateway 350 can be coupleddirectly to the CFT switch 330. The client gateway 350 can provide useraccess to the private network 310 and the tiers coupled thereto. In anillustrative embodiment, the set-top box devices 316, 324 can access theIPTV system 300 via the access network 366, using information receivedfrom the client gateway 350. User devices can access the client gateway350 via the access network 366, and the client gateway 350 can allowsuch devices to access the private network 310 once the devices areauthenticated or verified. Similarly, the client gateway 350 can preventunauthorized devices, such as hacker computers or stolen set-top boxdevices from accessing the private network 310, by denying access tothese devices beyond the access network 366.

For example, when the first representative set-top box device 316accesses the client-facing tier 302 via the access network 366, theclient gateway 350 can verify subscriber information by communicatingwith the subscriber and system store 348 via the private network 310.Further, the client gateway 350 can verify billing information andstatus by communicating with the OSS/BSS gateway 344 via the privatenetwork 310. In one embodiment, the OSS/BSS gateway 344 can transmit aquery via the public network 312 to the OSS/BSS server 364. After theclient gateway 350 confirms subscriber and/or billing information, theclient gateway 350 can allow the set-top box device 316 to access IPTVcontent and VoD content at the client-facing tier 302. If the clientgateway 350 cannot verify subscriber information for the set-top boxdevice 316, because it is connected to an unauthorized twisted pair, theclient gateway 350 can block transmissions to and from the set-top boxdevice 316 beyond the access network 366.

As indicated in FIG. 3, the acquisition tier 306 includes an acquisitiontier (AQT) switch 352 that communicates with the private network 310.The AQT switch 352 can also communicate with the operations andmanagement tier 308 via the public network 312. In a particularembodiment, the AQT switch 352 can be coupled to one or more liveAcquisition-servers (A-servers) 354 that receive or acquire televisioncontent, movie content, advertisement content, other video content, orany combination thereof, from a broadcast service 356, such as asatellite acquisition system or satellite head-end office. In aparticular embodiment, the live acquisition server 354 can transmitcontent to the AQT switch 352, and the AQT switch 352 can transmit thecontent to the CFT switch 330 via the private network 310.

In an illustrative embodiment, content can be transmitted to theD-servers 332, where it can be encoded, formatted, stored, replicated,or otherwise manipulated and prepared for communication from the videoserver(s) 380 to the set-top box devices 316, 324. The CFT switch 330can receive content from the video server(s) 380 and communicate thecontent to the CPE 314, 322 via the access network 366. The set-top boxdevices 316, 324 can receive the content via the CPE 314, 322, and cantransmit the content to the television monitors 318, 326. In anillustrative embodiment, video or audio portions of the content can bestreamed to the set-top box devices 316, 324.

Further, the AQT switch 352 can be coupled to a video-on-demand importerserver 358 that receives and stores television or movie content receivedat the acquisition tier 306 and communicates the stored content to theVoD server 336 at the client-facing tier 302 via the private network310. Additionally, at the acquisition tier 306, the VoD importer server358 can receive content from one or more VoD sources outside the IPTVsystem 300, such as movie studios and programmers of non-live content.The VoD importer server 358 can transmit the VoD content to the AQTswitch 352, and the AQT switch 352, in turn, can communicate thematerial to the CFT switch 330 via the private network 310. The VoDcontent can be stored at one or more servers, such as the VoD server336.

When users issue requests for VoD content via the set-top box devices316, 324, the requests can be transmitted over the access network 366 tothe VoD server 336, via the CFT switch 330. Upon receiving suchrequests, the VoD server 336 can retrieve the requested VoD content andtransmit the content to the set-top box devices 316, 324 across theaccess network 366, via the CFT switch 330. The set-top box devices 316,324 can transmit the VoD content to the television monitors 318, 326. Inan illustrative embodiment, video or audio portions of VoD content canbe streamed to the set-top box devices 316, 324.

FIG. 3 further illustrates that the operations and management tier 308can include an operations and management tier (OMT) switch 360 thatconducts communication between the operations and management tier 308and the public network 312. In the embodiment illustrated by FIG. 3, theOMT switch 360 is coupled to a TV2 server 362. Additionally, the OMTswitch 360 can be coupled to an OSS/BSS server 364 and to a simplenetwork management protocol monitor 386 that monitors network deviceswithin or coupled to the IPTV system 300. In a particular embodiment,the OMT switch 360 can communicate with the AQT switch 352 via thepublic network 312.

The OSS/BSS server 364 may include a cluster of servers, such as one ormore CPE data collection servers that are adapted to request and storeoperations systems data, such as performance data from the set-top boxdevices 316, 324. In an illustrative embodiment, the CPE data collectionservers may be adapted to analyze performance data to identify acondition of a physical component of a network path associated with aset-top box device, to predict a condition of a physical component of anetwork path associated with a set-top box device, or any combinationthereof.

In an illustrative embodiment, the live acquisition server 354 cantransmit content to the AQT switch 352, and the AQT switch 352, in turn,can transmit the content to the OMT switch 360 via the public network312. In this embodiment, the OMT switch 360 can transmit the content tothe TV2 server 362 for display to users accessing the user interface atthe TV2 server 362. For example, a user can access the TV2 server 362using a personal computer 368 coupled to the public network 312.

The avatar engine 130 of FIG. 1 can be operably coupled to the thirdcommunication system 300 for purposes similar to those described above.

It should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from theforegoing media communication system embodiments that other suitablemedia communication systems for distributing broadcast media content aswell as peer-to-peer exchange of content can be applied to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication system 400employing an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network architecture.Communication system 400 can be overlaid or operably coupled withcommunication systems 100-300 as another representative embodiment ofsaid communication systems.

The communication system 400 can comprise a Home Subscriber Server (HSS)440, a tElephone NUmber Mapping (ENUM) server 430, and network elementsof an IMS network 450. The IMS network 450 can be coupled to IMScompliant communication devices (CD) 401, 402 or a Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN) CD 403 using a Media Gateway Control Function(MGCF) 420 that connects the call through a common PSTN network 460.

IMS CDs 401, 402 register with the IMS network 450 by contacting a ProxyCall Session Control Function (P-CSCF) which communicates with acorresponding Serving CSCF (S-CSCF) to register the CDs with anAuthentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) supported by the HSS440. To accomplish a communication session between CDs, an originatingIMS CD 401 can submit a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP INVITE) messageto an originating P-CSCF 404 which communicates with a correspondingoriginating S-CSCF 406. The originating S-CSCF 406 can submit the SIPINVITE message to an application server (AS) such as reference 410 thatcan provide a variety of services to IMS subscribers. For example, theapplication server 410 can be used to perform originating treatmentfunctions on the calling party number received by the originating S-CSCF406 in the SIP INVITE message.

Originating treatment functions can include determining whether thecalling party number has international calling services, and/or isrequesting special telephony features (such as *72 forward calls, *73cancel call forwarding, *67 for caller ID blocking, and so on).Additionally, the originating S-CSCF 406 can submit queries to the ENUMsystem 430 to translate an E.164 telephone number to a SIP UniformResource Identifier (URI) if the targeted communication device is IMScompliant. If the targeted communication device is a PSTN device, theENUM system 430 will respond with an unsuccessful address resolution andthe S-CSCF 406 will forward the call to the MGCF 420 via a BreakoutGateway Control Function (BGCF) 419.

When the ENUM server 430 returns a SIP URI, the SIP URI is used by anInterrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) 407 to submit a query to the HSS 440 toidentify a terminating S-CSCF 414 associated with a terminating IMS CDsuch as reference 402. Once identified, the I-CSCF 407 can submit theSIP INVITE to the terminating S-CSCF 414 which can call on anapplication server 411 similar to reference 410 to perform theoriginating treatment telephony functions described earlier. Theterminating S-CSCF 414 can then identify a terminating P-CSCF 416associated with the terminating CD 402. The P-CSCF 416 then signals theCD 402 to establish communications. The aforementioned process issymmetrical. Accordingly, the terms “originating” and “terminating” inFIG. 4 can be interchanged.

IMS network 450 can also be operably coupled to the avatar engine 130previously discussed for FIG. 1. In this representative embodiment, theavatar engine 130 can be accessed over a PSTN or VoIP channel ofcommunication system 400 by common techniques such as described above.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a portal 530. The portal530 can be used for managing services of communication systems 100-400.The portal 530 can be accessed by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) witha common Internet browser such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer using anInternet-capable communication device such as references 108, 116, or210 of FIGS. 1-2. The portal 530 can be configured to access a mediaprocessor such as references 106, 204, 206, 316, and 324 of FIGS. 1-3and services managed thereby such as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), anElectronic Programming Guide (EPG), VoD catalog, a personal catalog(such as personal videos, pictures, audio recordings, etc.) stored inthe STB, a personal computer or server in a user's home or office, andso on.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communication device 600.Communication device 600 can be a representative portion of any of theaforementioned communication devices of FIGS. 1-4. The communicationdevice 604 can comprise a wireline and/or wireless transceiver 602(herein transceiver 602), a user interface (UI) 604, a power supply 614,and a controller 606 for managing operations thereof. The transceiver602 can support short-range or long-range wireless access technologiessuch as a Bluetooth wireless access protocol, a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)access protocol, a Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT)wireless access protocol, cellular, software defined radio (SDR) and/orWiMAX technologies, just to mention a few. Cellular technologies caninclude, for example, CDMA-1X, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO,and next generation technologies as they arise.

The transceiver 602 can also support common wireline access technologiessuch as circuit-switched wireline access technologies, packet-switchedwireline access technologies, or combinations thereof. PSTN canrepresent one of the common circuit-switched wireline accesstechnologies. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and IP datacommunications can represent some of the commonly availablepacket-switched wireline access technologies. The transceiver 602 canalso be adapted to support IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) protocol forinterfacing to an IMS network that can combine PSTN and VoIPcommunication technologies.

The UI 604 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 608 and anavigation mechanism such as a roller ball, joystick, mouse, and/ornavigation disk for manipulating operations of the communication device600. The keypad 608 can be an integral part of a housing assembly of thecommunication device 600 or an independent device operably coupledthereto by a tethered wiring interface (such as a USB) or a wirelessinterface supporting for example Bluetooth. The keypad 608 can representa numeric dialing keypad commonly used by phones, and/or a Qwerty keypadwith alphanumeric keys.

The UI 604 can further include a display 610 such as monochrome or colorLCD (Liquid Crystal Display), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) orother suitable display technology for conveying images to the end userof the communication device 600. In an embodiment where the display 610is touch-sensitive, a portion or all of the keypad 608 can be presentedby way of the display. The UI 604 can also include an audio system 612that utilizes common audio technology for conveying low volume audio(such as audio heard only in the proximity of a human ear) and highvolume audio (such as speakerphone for hands free operation). The audiosystem 612 can further include a microphone for receiving audiblesignals of an end user.

The power supply 614 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and charging system technologies for supplying energy tothe components of the communication device 600 to facilitate long-rangeor short-range portable applications. The controller 606 can utilizecomputing technologies such as a microprocessor and/or digital signalprocessor (DSP) with associated storage memory such a Flash, ROM, RAM,SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies.

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative method 700 operating in portions ofcommunication systems 100-400. FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative embodimentof a system 800 operating according to the method of FIG. 7. FIG. 8depicts an interactive media communication system 801 such as thesystems shown in FIGS. 1-4 (singly or collectively). The interactivemedia communication system (iMCS) can be coupled to the avatar engine130 and one or more STBs 806. The STBs 806 are operatively coupled tomedia presentation devices such as a high-definition television (HDTV)810 which can present avatar images 808 supplied by the avatar engine130 by way of the STBs. A user 802 of the STB 806 can interact with theavatar image 808 by speech as well as tactile controls using a remotecontrol 804.

The HDTV 812 can also have a common camera sensor 812 for capturingstill and/or moving images of the user 802, which an be displayed inpart by the HDTV as a picture-in-picture (PIP) image 814. The visualimages of the user can be conveyed to the STB 806. Speech can bedetected by a microphone of an audio system of the remote control 804 oran audio system of the STB 806. The avatar image 808 can be an animatedimage, or can have human-like qualities such as the avatar image 809.The STB 806 can transmit to the avatar engine 130 the visual images aswell as speech signals of the user 802 for analysis.

With system 800 in mind, method 700 can begin with step 702 in which theavatar engine 130 retrieves a user profile associated with the user 802of the iMCS 801. This step can be responsive to the user 802 requestingaccess to the avatar image 808 by initiating a speech command or tactilecommand (such as selecting an avatar request button on the remotecontrol 804) that is detected by the STB 806, and thereby conveyed tothe avatar engine 130. The user profile can include demographicprofiling information of the user 802, psychographic profilinginformation of the user, and/or user preferences supplied by the user.The demographic profiling information of the user 802 can be based onage, gender, income, number of occupants in household, occupation,education, value of residential property, location of residentialproperty, and/or fees paid for services rendered by the iMCS 801. Thedemographic profiling information of the user 802 can be determined froma subscriber account of the user and/or monitored media consumptionbehavior of the user. One or more network elements of the iMCS 801 canutilize common demographic analysis tools to make these determinations.

The psychographic profiling information of the user 802 can also bedetermined from monitored media consumption behavior of the user and/orsubscriber account information. Utilizing common psychographic analysistools, one or more network elements of the iMCS 801 can generate thepsychographic profiling information of the user 802. The psychographicprofiling information can identify one or more traits, attitudes,interests, and/or lifestyles of the user 802.

User preferences supplied by the user 802 can identify, for example, apreferred gender for the avatar, a preferred image (could be an image ofthe user 802, an image of a friend or spouse of the user, celebrity,etc.), a preferred personality for the avatar (mild-mannered avatar),preferred search preferences, preferred content sources, preferredmerchants of goods or services, and so on.

In step 704 the avatar engine 130 can present on the HDTV 810 the avatarimage 808 correlated to the user profile as described above. The avatarengine 130 can use common correlation technology to statisticallygenerate an avatar image that is likely suited for the user 802according to the aforementioned aspects provided by the user profile.Using common speech synthesis and recognition technology, the avatarengine 130 can interact with the user 802 to provide interactive mediaservices. Accordingly, the user 802 can initiate speech or tactileresponses on the remote control 804 which can be detected by the avatarengine 130 in step 706 by way of the STB 806.

User responses can represent any detectable visual or audible responseof the user 802 determined from an exchange between the user and theavatar engine 130 by way of the represented avatar image 808. A responsefor example can represent a command such as, “Show me my DVRrecordings,” “Record this program,” Show me the EPG for HD channels,”Show me the VoD catalog for family movies,” “Show me YouTube.com”, “Showme contemporary music in iTunes™”, “What's the weather like outside?”,“What's the weather forecast for the next three days?”, “Where can I buySpencer Tracy movies”, “I want to install hardwood floors in my home onmy own, please find pricing and installation demos”, “I want to buy thelatest version of the iPhone™, please find a good price, and show me ademo of its features”, and so on.

The avatar engine 130 can be programmed to identify in step 708 from theuser's responses a need to communicate with among other things amerchant system 133 such as shown in FIG. 8. The need to communicatewith a merchant system 133 can be determined expressly such as forexample when the user states, “I want to install hardwood floors in myhome on my own, please find pricing and installation demos at HomeDepot™”. In this instance, the avatar engine 130 is expressly instructedto establish communications with the Home Depot™ portal or system(s) tofind hardwood floor pricing and installation demos.

Alternatively, the need to communicate with a merchant system 133 can beinferred such as for example when the user states, “I want to installhardwood floors in my home on my own, please find pricing andinstallation demos”, “I want to buy the latest version of the iPhone™,please find a good price, and show me a demo of its features?”, and soon. In these cases the avatar engine 130 can infer a merchant system 133that might satisfy the needs of the user. In the first illustration, theavatar engine 130 can be programmed to identify merchants that sellhardwood floors such as Home Depot™, Lowes™, local hardwood floorspecialists, and so on. The avatar engine 130 can detect from userpreferences in the user profile that the user has a defined a prioritysequence with merchants involved in home improvements. From thesepreferences, the avatar engine 130 can for example choose to contactLowes™ before it contacts Home Depot™. If there is no priority sequencein the user preferences, the avatar engine 130 can identify an orderbased on merchant systems 133 previously accessed by the user.

Once a merchant system 133 has been identified that satisfies, or likelysatisfies, the request of the user 802, the avatar engine 130 canproceed to step 710 where it establishes communication with theidentified merchant system by way of the IMCS 801. To enhance theexperience of the user 802, the merchant system 133 can notify theavatar engine 130 in step 712 of an availability of a merchant avatarengine 135 (see FIG. 8). As described earlier, the merchant avatarengine 135 can utilize common computing technology, speech synthesis andrecognition technology, and image processing technology similar to thatof the avatar engine 130 to assist it in presenting and promoting goodsor services of a merchant associated with the merchant system 133.

Upon establishing communication with the merchant avatar engine 135 instep 714, the merchant avatar engine can supply instructions to theavatar engine 130 to control presentation aspects of the avatar 808 suchas its manner of speaking, its manner of dress, gestures, and othercharacteristics which may be suitable for presenting and promotingproducts or services of the merchant. In step 714, the merchant avatarengine 135 can share artificial intelligence instructions in the form ofsoftware (or other suitable transferrable information technology) whichprovides the avatar engine 130 the means in step 716 to adapt andportray to the user a new attained skill of the avatar 808 notdemonstrated to the user in previous interactions.

Suppose for example that the avatar engine 130 detects that the user 802has stated to the avatar 808, “I want to install hardwood floors in myhome on my own, please find pricing and installation demos at companyXYZ”. Suppose also that after establishing communications with companyXYZ's merchant system 133, the avatar engine 130 is notified of theavailability of a merchant avatar engine 135. Upon establishingcommunications with the merchant avatar engine 135, the avatar engine130 and the merchant avatar engine can decide whether to share controlof the presentation of the avatar 808, or a collectively transfersufficient artificial intelligence to the avatar engine 130 toindependently adapt characteristics of the avatar 808. Assume that thelatter embodiment is chosen, and that the merchant avatar engine 135 canprovide the avatar engine 130 access to one or more databases of themerchant system 133. The databases can provide the avatar engine 130product or service information needed to promote and/or demonstrateproducts or services sold by the merchant.

Under these circumstances, in step 716, the avatar engine 130 can adaptcharacteristics of the avatar 808 to correlate at least in part with anadaption model described by the artificial intelligence supplied to theavatar engine. To prevent a complete transformation, which might not bedesirable to the user 802, the avatar engine 130 can maintain some ormost of the characteristics originally correlated to the user profile.For example, the avatar engine 130 can maintain the facial features ofthe original avatar image 808. The avatar engine 130 can also prevent achange to the voice profile used by the speech synthesis tools of theavatar engine. The avatar engine 130 can also maintain a complete recordof the behavior patterns of the user 802 such as for example the user'slikes and dislikes, an understanding of the user's temper, and generalpersonality.

By maintaining some aspects of the avatar image 808 after its adaptationin step 716, the avatar engine 130 can minimize the possibility that theuser 802 will have a negative reaction to a presentation of the adaptedavatar image in step 718. The user preferences in the user profile canbe used to define which characteristics of the avatar image 808 are tobe retained after an adaptation. Alternatively, or in combination, theavatar engine 130 can determine which characteristics are to be retainedfrom behavior modeling of the user 802 from observations of previousmerchant sites visited, and/or instructions provided by the user (suchas for example, “Please do not allow a change to your voice, hair,personality, etc.).

As part of the adaptation process, the avatar engine 130 can changecertain aspects that are recognizable of the merchant. For example, theavatar image 808 can be redressed to wear overalls to create an image ofsomeone who is about to engage in manual labor. Alternatively, theavatar 808 can be redressed to where a common uniform used by employeesof company XYZ (such as the uniform used by Home Depot™ employees). Thebackground scenery can be changed to an internal view of a store of themerchant. The avatar 808 can be presented walking through the store to asection that stocks hardwood floors. The avatar engine 130 can thenretrieve pricing information from a database of the merchant avatarengine 135 (or operably coupled thereto) to determine pricinginformation, and installation instructions. The avatar image 808 canpresent pricing for different options with pros and cons of each option(such cost per square foot, quality of wood, cost of up keeping floors,and so on). If the user indicates a preference for a particular option,the avatar engine 130 can focus its discussion with the user on theselection.

Since the user 802 expressly requested a demonstration (“ . . . pleasefind pricing and installation demos at company XYZ”), the avatar engine130 can immediate begin in step 720 an installation demonstration forthe selected option. This can be accomplished by changing the scenery toa residence with the avatar image 808 for example showing the tools thatwill be necessary for installation, where these tools can be leased orbought and at what price. The avatar engine 130 can then present theavatar image 808 providing visual and audible step by step instructionsfor installing hardwood floors based on the selected option. The avatarengine 130 can also interactively ask the user 802 what the squarefootage of the floor(s) for each room and its dimensions.

The user 802 can electronically supply a room schematic to the avatarengine 130 if available. The avatar engine 130 can use the artificialintelligence supplied by the merchant avatar engine 135 to estimatetotal cost, average time to complete the work, and complexity of the joband likelihood of success. The likelihood of success can be determinedby the avatar engine 130 from a combination of the complexity factorssupplied by the information systems (databases) of the merchant avatarengine 135 as well as aspects of the user 802 known to the avatar engine130 from modeling behavior of the user in prior home improvementprojects, and/or information supplied by the user profile. The avatarengine 130 can also present the user 802 a view of the rooms after thehardwood floors are installed so that the user can change options,hardwood stains, and so on.

The avatar engine 130 can continue to present the adapted avatar to theuser while the user's responses continue to indicate a desire tointeract with the merchant system 133. Once the avatar engine 130detects that the user 802 is no longer interested in the merchant (suchas requesting information relating to a different merchant or statingthat the user has the information s/he needs), the avatar engine canterminate the communication session with the merchant system 133 andproceeds from step 722 to step 724 where it restores the characteristicsof the avatar image 808 to correlate to the user profile. In this step,all characteristics of the avatar correlated to the avatar artificialintelligence instructions supplied by the merchant avatar engine 135 areeffectively terminated.

As a revenue source, the avatar engine 130 can be programmed in step 726to record a fee directed to the merchant for providing a means to conveyartificial intelligence to the avatar engine 130 that can benefit themarketing and promotion of products or services of the merchant.

Upon reviewing the aforementioned embodiments, it would be evident to anartisan with ordinary skill in the art that said embodiments can bemodified, reduced, or enhanced without departing from the scope andspirit of the claims described below. For example, method 700 can beapplied to any merchant of goods or services including withoutlimitation merchants of video content, music content, books,automobiles, computers, food products, services of a lawyer, services ofan accountant, and so on. Accordingly, method 700 can be applied to anymerchant good or service.

It should be further noted that the avatar engine 130 can be integratedin any device. For example, the avatar engine 130 can be an integralpart of the STB 806, a mobile phone, a PDA, a gaming console, acommunication device of an IMS system such as shown in FIG. 4, a portal,and so on. Additionally, the avatar engine 130 can be distributedbetween devices. In this embodiment, a portion of the avatar engine 130can operate in a network element of the iMCS 801, another portion canoperate in the STB, and so on.

Other suitable modifications can be applied to the present disclosurewithout departing from the scope of the claims below. Accordingly, thereader is directed to the claims section for a fuller understanding ofthe breadth and scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system 900 within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed above. In some embodiments, the machine operatesas a standalone device. In some embodiments, the machine may beconnected (e.g., using a network) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient user machine in server-client user network environment, or as apeer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktopcomputer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge, or anymachine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will beunderstood that a device of the present disclosure includes broadly anyelectronic device that provides voice, video or data communication.Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 900 may include a processor 902 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a mainmemory 904 and a static memory 906, which communicate with each othervia a bus 908. The computer system 900 may further include a videodisplay unit 910 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, asolid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system900 may include an input device 912 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 914 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 916, a signal generationdevice 918 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interfacedevice 920.

The disk drive unit 916 may include a machine-readable medium 922 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 924)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein, including those methods illustrated above. The instructions 924may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the mainmemory 904, the static memory 906, and/or within the processor 902during execution thereof by the computer system 900. The main memory 904and the processor 902 also may constitute machine-readable media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatusand systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety ofelectronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions intwo or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices withrelated control and data signals communicated between and through themodules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit.Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, andhardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

The present disclosure contemplates a machine readable medium containinginstructions 924, or that which receives and executes instructions 924from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a networkenvironment 926 can send or receive voice, video or data, and tocommunicate over the network 926 using the instructions 924. Theinstructions 924 may further be transmitted or received over a network926 via the network interface device 920.

While the machine-readable medium 922 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure.

The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken toinclude, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such as a memorycard or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile)memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile)memories; magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape;and/or a digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-containedinformation archive or set of archives is considered a distributionmedium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, thedisclosure is considered to include any one or more of amachine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listed herein andincluding art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which thesoftware implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodicallysuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. An internet protocol television system,comprising: a memory storing computer instructions; and a controllerdevice coupled to the memory, wherein the controller, responsive toexecuting the computer instructions, performs operations comprising:retrieving a user profile associated with a user of the internetprotocol television system; causing a set-top box to present an avatarhaving characteristics that correlate to the user profile; receivingfrom the set-top box at least one response, wherein the at least oneresponse is determined by the set-top box from a communication exchangebetween the avatar and the user; identifying from the at least oneresponse subject matter associated with a merchant system; establishinga communication session with the merchant system; receiving anotification from the merchant system indicating availability of amerchant avatar engine operatively coupled to the merchant system;establishing communication with the merchant avatar engine; receivingmodeling computer instructions from the merchant avatar engine, whereinthe modeling computer instructions define an adaption model having othercharacteristics that are associated with a good or service of themerchant system; generating an adapted avatar by adapting thecharacteristics of the avatar according to the adaption model whileretaining a portion of the characteristics that includes facial andvoice characteristics associated with the user profile, wherein theportion of the characteristics of the avatar to be retained isdetermined by the controller device based on behavior modeling of theuser from monitoring previous communication sessions associated with theuser, the avatar and other merchant systems, wherein the behaviormodeling is based on likes and dislikes of the user, a temper of theuser, and a personality of the user during the previous communicationsessions, wherein the generating of the adapted avatar is performed byexecuting at the controller device the received computer instructionssupplied by the merchant avatar engine, wherein the received computerinstructions when executed by the controller device enable sharedcontrol over a presentation of the adapted avatar by the merchant avatarengine and the controller device; accessing a merchant database toobtain merchant information for promotion by the adapted avatar; andcausing the set-top box to present the adapted avatar.
 2. The internetprotocol television system of claim 1, wherein the adapting of thecharacteristics of the avatar includes interaction of the avatar withthe good or service associated with the merchant system.
 3. The internetprotocol television system of claim 1, wherein the controller device isadapted to: detect a termination of the communication session with themerchant avatar engine; and restore the characteristics of the avatarcorrelated to the user profile and terminate the adapted characteristicsof the avatar created from the instructions of the merchant avatarengine.
 4. The internet protocol television system of claim 1, whereinthe controller device is adapted to cause the set-top box to present theadapted avatar presenting a demonstration of the good or service of themerchant system according to the received computer instructions suppliedby the merchant avatar engine.
 5. The internet protocol televisionsystem of claim 1, wherein the received computer instructions whenexecuted by the controller device enable accessing the merchantdatabase.
 6. The internet protocol television system of claim 1, whereinthe characteristics of the avatar correspond to at least one ofcharacteristics associated with physiological appearance, clothingstyle, speech, gestures, maturity, or knowledge.
 7. The internetprotocol television system of claim 1, wherein the instructions suppliedby the merchant avatar engine direct the presentation of the avatar in amanner that promotes the good or service of the merchant system.
 8. Theinternet protocol television system of claim 1, wherein the controllerdevice is adapted to record a fee directed to the merchant system foradapting the avatar according to the instructions of the merchant avatarengine.
 9. The internet protocol television system of claim 1, whereinthe user profile comprises at least one of demographic profilinginformation of the user, psychographic profiling information of theuser, or user preferences supplied by the user.
 10. The internetprotocol television system of claim 9, wherein the controller device isadapted to determine the demographic or psychographic profilinginformation of the user from at least one of a subscriber account of theuser or a media consumption behavior of the user, wherein demographicprofiling information of the user is based on at least one of age,gender, income, number of occupants in household, occupation, education,value of residential property, location of residential property, or feespaid for services rendered by the Internet Protocol Television system,and wherein the psychographic profiling information is based on at leastone of user traits, user attitudes, user interests, or user lifestylesdetermined from the consumption behavior.
 11. An avatar engine,comprising: a memory storing computer instructions; and a controllerdevice coupled to the memory, wherein the controller, responsive toexecuting the computer instructions, performs operations comprising:retrieving a user profile; causing a presentation device to present anavatar having characteristics that correlate to the user profile;detecting at least one response that is based on input of a user;identifying from the at least one response subject matter associatedwith a merchant system; establishing a communication session with themerchant system; receiving a notification from the merchant system of amerchant avatar engine; establishing communication with the merchantavatar engine; receiving computer instructions from the merchant avatarengine; monitoring other communication sessions associated with theuser, the avatar and other merchant systems; generating an adaptedavatar by adapting the characteristics of the avatar to include theavatar interacting with a good or service of the merchant system whileretaining a portion of the characteristics of the avatar that includesfacial and voice characteristics associated with the user profile,wherein the portion of the characteristics of the avatar to be retainedis determined by the controller device according to behavior modeling ofthe user based on the monitoring of the other communication sessions.wherein the generating of the adapted avatar is performed by executingcomputer instructions at the controller device that are supplied by themerchant avatar engine, wherein the received computer instructions whenexecuted by the controller device enable shared control over thepresentation of the adapted avatar between the merchant avatar engineand the controller device; and causing the presentation device topresent the user the adapted avatar.
 12. The avatar engine of claim 11,wherein the controller device is configured to access a merchantdatabase of the merchant system to obtain merchant information forpromotion of the good or service by the adapted avatar, wherein thereceived computer instructions when executed by the controller deviceenable accessing the merchant database.
 13. The avatar engine of claim12, wherein the media communication system corresponds to one of anInternet Protocol Television communication system, an interactive cableTV communication system, or an interactive satellite TV communicationsystem, and wherein the behavior modeling detects likes and dislikes ofthe user during the other communication sessions.
 14. The avatar engineof claim 11, wherein the behavior modeling detects a temper of the userduring the other communication sessions.
 15. The avatar engine of claim11, wherein the controller is adapted to: detect a termination of thecommunication session with the merchant avatar engine; and restore thecharacteristics of the avatar correlated to the user profile andterminate the characteristics of the avatar created from theinstructions of the merchant avatar engine.
 16. The avatar engine ofclaim 11, wherein the controller is adapted to cause the presentationdevice to present the adapted avatar presenting a demonstration of thegood or the service of the merchant according to the computerinstructions supplied by the merchant avatar engine.
 17. The avatarengine of claim 11, wherein the characteristics of the avatar correspondto at least one of characteristics associated with physiologicalappearance, clothing style, speech, gestures, maturity, or knowledge.18. The avatar engine of claim 11, wherein the user profile comprises atleast one of demographic profiling information of the user,psychographic profiling information of the user, or user preferencessupplied by the user.
 19. A method, comprising: presenting an avatarhaving characteristics that correlate to a user profile of a user, theuser profile being supplied by an interactive television system;establishing communication between a controller device of theinteractive television system and a merchant avatar engine of a merchantsystem; receiving computer instructions at the controller device fromthe merchant avatar engine; generating an adapted avatar by adapting thecharacteristics of the avatar to include the avatar interacting with agood or service of the merchant system while retaining a portion of thecharacteristics of the avatar that includes facial and voicecharacteristics associated with the user profile, wherein the portion ofthe characteristics of the avatar to be retained is determined by thecontroller device based on behavior modeling of the user from monitoringother communication sessions associated with the user, the avatar andother merchant systems, wherein the generating of the adapted avatar isperformed by executing computer instructions supplied by the merchantavatar engine, wherein the received computer instructions when executedby the controller device enable exclusive control over the presentationof the adapted avatar by the controller device; and presenting theadapted avatar to the user.
 20. The method of claim 19, comprisingaccessing a merchant database of the merchant system to obtain merchantinformation for promotion of the good or service by the adapted avatar,wherein the received computer instructions when executed by thecontroller device enable accessing the merchant database, wherein theinteractive television system corresponds to one of an Internet ProtocolTelevision communication system, an interactive cable TV communicationsystem, or an interactive satellite TV communication system.
 21. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the characteristics of the avatar correspondto at least one of characteristics associated with physiologicalappearance, clothing style, speech, gestures, maturity, or knowledge.22. The method of claim 19, comprising retaining facial and voicecharacteristics of the avatar correlated to the user profile whileadapting the characteristics of the avatar to the instructions suppliedby the merchant avatar engine.
 23. A merchant avatar engine, comprising:a memory storing computer instructions; and a controller coupled withthe memory, wherein the controller, responsive to executing the computerinstructions, performs operations comprising: establishingcommunications with an avatar engine processor that is presenting anavatar having characteristics that correlate to a user profile; andtransmitting instructions to the avatar engine processor that can beexecuted by the avatar engine processor to adapt the characteristics ofthe avatar at least in part according to said instructions supplied bythe merchant avatar engine, wherein the instructions when executed bythe avatar engine processor enable shared control over the presentationof the adapted avatar between the merchant avatar engine and the avatarengine processor, wherein the adapted characteristics comprise theavatar interacting with a good or service associated with a merchantoperating the merchant avatar engine while retaining a portion of thecharacteristics of the avatar that includes facial and voicecharacteristics associated with the user profile, wherein the portion ofthe characteristics of the avatar to be retained is determined by thecontroller based on behavior modeling of a user from monitoring othercommunication sessions associated with the user, the avatar and othermerchant systems.